The Indiana Pacers have become the surprise of the season as their improbable 2025 NBA Finals run could reach even greater levels. Unfortunately, their greatest test awaits them. The Goliath, known as the Oklahoma City Thunder, impose a serious challenge to the Pacers and their point guard and lead ball-handler Tyrese Haliburton.
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Indiana has faced some great teams throughout the NBA playoffs. The Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks are certainly not tomato cans. Nonetheless, they pale in comparison to the defensive and offensive capabilities the Thunder possess.
Led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC has shown its regular-season dominance wasn’t a fluke. Throughout the playoffs, the Thunder have the best defensive rating of any team at 104.7. They completely demolish any and all shot creators in their path, sending Lu Dort and Alex Caruso after anyone who attempts to dribble on the perimeter.
On the flip side, there is a reason why the Pacers have the number one offense in the playoffs this year. Haliburton is the engine of that unit, but NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith believes his reign of dominance may be coming to an end.
He raises concerns regarding Haliburton’s ability to maintain his level of play due to one specific defensive player on the Thunder.
“Wing defense is going to be the key to this series,” Smith said on ESPN’s First Take. “Lu Dort is an All-Defensive player. He is a linebacker playing basketball.”
OKC has plenty of pieces who contribute to their outstanding defense, but Dort may be the most important. The 6-foot-4 guard is incredibly burly at 220 pounds. His speed and strength allow him to be one of the most versatile defensive players in the NBA. A trait which he put on display in the Western Conference Finals.
Dort received the difficult task of guarding Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. It’s impossible to completely shut down a player of Edwards’ calibre. One thing he was able to do effectively was slow him down. Edwards failed to score over 20 points in the final two games of the series.
Most impressively, Dort held his own against 6’9 power forward Julius Randle. Despite having five inches and 30 pounds on Dort, Randle couldn’t take advantage of any positional mismatch when he switched onto him.
Now, in this series, Haliburton will have to face the broad-shouldered Canadian wing. This will be a completely different look for the Pacers guard in comparison to the previous series. As good as Mikal Bridges was against Tyrese for most of the Eastern Conference Finals, he’s not nearly the pest that Dort is.
To make matters worse, Lu isn’t the only stopper the Thunder will throw at Haliburton. OKC has Alex Caruso off the bench, who will certainly receive the task. Not to mention, Gilgeous-Alexander is an irritating defender in his own right.
This series will certainly be an uphill battle for the Pacers. However, with everyone counting them out, they have nothing to lose and the world to shock.
